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Friday, January 25, 2013

For many years I have
maintained that at any given time the solution to problems requires an analysis
that would enable us to determine whether the solutions presently applied are
still useful or should be changed. I remember a Nobel Prize Laureate in physics
who commenced his conference by projecting a slide that contained a single word:
“Inertia”. “This is our greatest enemy”, he observed, “because it often
prevents us from making changes that are essential if we are to face the challenges
of our time”.

I have also repeated that,
based on experience gained over many years, we should not heed the “wise”
recommendations that “you’ve got to be realistic” or “pragmatism is essential”.
“Realists” have never been able to change reality, because they simply accept
it.

It’s clear that we must invent
the future, that we must constantly seek new directions to transform today’s
“impossibles” into the “possibles” of tomorrow.

The truly great political
leaders are those who with imagination and audacity have been able to implement
radical changes that were considered impossible.

For me, President Kennedy’s
speech in Washington
in June, 1963 was very relevant when he proclaimed that “No challenge is beyond
the creative capacity of the human species”. And now, more recently, there is Amin
Maalouf’s statement that “Unprecedented situations require unprecedented
solutions”, and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s assertion that “To make
our dreams reality we must cross the lines of the possible”.

And lastly but foremost is
Albert Einstein’s contention that “In times of crisis only imagination is more important
than knowledge”.

All of the experts need to
realize this, especially the economists who insist on applying old solutions to
new problems. We must dare to correct Aristotle and proclaim that “Good
politics is the art of the impossible”.